The Golden Ratio in the Human Body

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=085KSyQVb-U

I am baffled by mysteries such as the Golden Ratio, how it can be anywhere and everywhere, in sunflowers and seashells, but most especially in the human body.  How is it that this can be so prevalent and yet atheists can say that there is no God?  Of course there's a God.  God is everywhere, filling me with a sense of absolute wonder and amazement.  Mysteries abound.  Watch this amazing video.

The Christmas Tree Nebula

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=freecause&va=the+Christmas+Tree+Nebula

Amazing photos

No Arms No Legs No Worries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciYk-UwqFKA&feature=related

Very inspirational video about a guy who is severely disabled but has complete faith in God and God's purpose for him.  Truly amazing and he's  happy!  I would have likely given up long ago. . .

in Christ Alone: Nick Vujicic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUas9uNPDuM&feature=fvw

This dude has no arms and no legs.  But he has a faith in God that carries him through life and he figures out a way to do just about anything he wants.  He inspires me, absolutely and completely.

St. Augustine's thoughts about Creation

http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1988/PSCF3-88Young.html

This takes some reading but it is probably worth it.  St. Augustine was a very wise theologian who lived centuries ago and definitely used his head for more than to keep his ears apart.  I do not profess to be as wise as he was but it seems obvious to me that the stories of Genesis are for the most part not to be taken literally.

Bobby McFerrin: Ave Maria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgvJg7D6Qck

Beautiful video.  A brilliant and spiritual entertainer entertains and involves the audience with a wonderful hymn.

Desiderata, by Max Ehrmann

http://www.sfheart.com/desiderata.html

These words are timeless and very important.  I believe they are every bit as important as for example The Lord's Prayer.  Well, maybe not quite that important. . .

The Lord's Prayer from the 11th Century, Anglo-Saxon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wl-OZ3breE&feature=related

It's strange to watch this, words from almost 1000 years ago.  Mystical, hauntingly beautiful.  Listen and enjoy.

UNIVERSO PARALELO EM VERSOS: Haikais de um dia pelo avesso.

UNIVERSO PARALELO EM VERSOS: Haikais de um dia pelo avesso.: "(Obra de Arnaldo Macedo) Madrigal alta alegriafoi rodopiando pelo mundo afora voa feliz sabiá. Paz no sorrisopulando uma onda na praiagaiv..."

There is a translation widget in this blog if Porteugese isn't your language.  Click on the appropriate flag.

National Geographic magazine

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/

Wonderful magazine and always has been.  The web site has so much good stuff in it.

Grand Canyon Suite by Ferde Grofe "On The Trail"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf4tTydTgjo&feature=related

Amazing music, visuals.  The video does seem to stall a few times but it's well worth it.  Give yourself a treat and enjoy this.

Hand of God in Space

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1169776/Hand-God-Scientists-reveal-amazing-X-ray-image-supernova-deep-space.html

Beautiful pics from space.

autumn leaves

from my friend Georgie's facebook pics.

reach up! way up!

Ay, sometimes an elephant's reach is beyond his grasp, or what's a heaven for?

(With apologies to Robert Browning.)

Thoughts about Thanksgiving Day

Yesterday, October 10, 2010, was Thanksgiving Day Sunday here in Canada.  My wife and I attended church--it was decorated with harvested food--apples, potatoes and of course pumpkins, and lots of colourful leaves all over the place.  We sang the songs, listened to the sermon, offered up prayers for those of our friends and families who needed them, and thought about all the blessings in our lives.  I cannot but thrill in the beauty of nature at this time of year.  This is the world we live in and ours not to spoil.  After the service we shared refreshments and reflections with each other.  One young lad showed his Mom what he had done in Sunday school class, very amazing and beautiful work.  There was a poem in his work:

There's power in the ocean and there's power in me.
Just like the tiny acorn that rows to be a tree,
Whose branches reach to heaven for all the world to see,
When I reach up to thee, Lord, I'll become what I'm supposed to be.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=what+a+wonderful+world+louis+armstrong&docid=234113597909&mid=807D207650324525BD18807D207650324525BD18&FORM=LKVR34#

This is a wonderful song by the great Louis Armstrong, accompanied by Kenny G.  Seems appropriate.

philosophy discussion about faith and reason

http://www.philosophytalk.org/pastShows/FaithReasonandScience.htm

Looks like a lot of stuff in here that might be useful.  I've yet to sort through all of it.

Video: Grand Canyon Suite "painted desert"

Couldn't find another video of the same quality as "sunrise" but the music is great anyway.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL9YHaakZNM&feature=related

two birds = one heart

Video Grand Canyon Suite, "Sunrise"

Part of the love I have for classical music comes from memories of my parents sharing music like this; but back then of course we didn't have benefit of videos.  I do remember looking at picture books while listening to this--never having been to this magnificient place I can only dream of doing so.  What this has to do with faith I'm not sure, unless it's to think that God is here.  What it has to do with science I don't know either, unless geology and geography figure into it.  Anyway here it is, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCM8u-YlGQE

Sane religion/"un"-sane religion

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/religious-people-must-ral_b_750682.html?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=100610&utm_medium=email&utm_content=FeatureMore

Very good article about religion:  Personally I think that sane religion--that which is inclusive, non-judgemental, caring and understanding--is an attitude which also promotes harmony with nature.

The paradox of Prediction

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/paradox+prediction/3630181/story.html

David Suzuki at age 74 is still trying to open peoples' eyes and save the planet we all live on.  He makes an interesting and scary prediction.  Imagine, he says, a test-tube full of food, and a single bacterium introduced into it.  In one hour it reproduces itself.  Again in another hour.  And again, and so on.  It would take, he says, 59 hours for the test-tube to be half full of bacteria, and another hour to become completely full.  Then he compares the test-tube to Planet Earth and tells us that we have passed the 59th hour.  Click on the above link to read the whole piece.

missing monkey-humans

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/09/27/an-evolutionary-biologist-answers-christine-o-donnell-s-question-about-the-missing-monkey-humans.html?obref=obnetwork

There's a lot of confusion about evolution because we are unable to see things happening in our short life-times.  As children we have very short attention spans; this is why entertainment is fed to us in bite-sized cartoon form rather than movies or, even better, books.  Sometimes as adults this feature of our child-hood carries over in part because we cannot or will not see the whole picture.  We think that the description of creation as described in the book of Genesis (six days and all that) is exactly how it all happened, and that six thousand years ago.  But we should really look at the evidence.  It isn't all black-and-white.  Elsewhere in this blog are excerpts from a series called "Discovering Religion"; this is an excellent series which seeks to help explain about evolution and the need to be more open-minded when looking at evidence;  more from the same series are to be posted. 

St. Francis Day, October 3.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-dr-james-a-kowalski/st-francis-the-power-of-l_b_747919.html

We celebrate today the work of St. Francis of Assisi, who dedicated his life about a thousand years ago to looking after the animals.  St. Francis was a very wise man and would teach us a lot about stewardship if only we would listen.  In the wake of so many disasters (the Gulf oil-rig explosion is an example), pollution of other kinds (water, air), species extinction and man-caused imbalances of nature we really should learn while there is still time.

Wilderness Summithttp://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/ID=1605310108

David Suzuki, a great Canadian, and a world-renowned environmentalist and Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice met on the British Colombia coast to discuss the environment and what should be done to further progress in preserving the environment.  This is important because we only have one planet on which we all live.  A lot of damage has already been done and might not be possible to undo.  This is the world that God gave us and gave to us stewardship, to protect and treasure.  This is a video that was shown on CBC news today and I want to share it.http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/ID=1605310108